Flynn played for the Neath and Wales schools and trained with Cardiff City, before
joining Burnley in 1970, turning professional in October 1972. He made his Burnley debut
on 2nd February 1974 in a 1-1 draw with rsenal at Highbury. At Turf Moor he won
Under-Twenty-Three honours and became established on the international scene, making his
debut as a substitute in the European Qualifying Competition in a 5-0 win over Luxembourg
at Swansea on 20th November 1974. He actually scored at international level, in a 2-2 draw
with Scotland at Cardiff on 17th May 1975, before opening his account in the Football League.
Burnley were struggling and had to sell their quality players to survive. After hey had been
relegated from Division One in 1976, he joined Leeds in November 1977 for £175,000 and won
thirty-two caps whilst at Elland Road. While Flynn was one of the smallest players ever to
play for Leeds, or indeed in the Football League, his appetite for work was remarkable and
his midfield partnership with Tony Currie was one of the best of the post-Revie era. Neat
control, hard work and passing ability put him amongst the best midfielders of his day. In
total he won sixty-six caps and captained his country. He also represented Wales at School,
Youth and Under-Twenty-Three levels. He was loaned to Burnley in March 1982 and rejoined
them permanently eight months later for £60,000, making eighty-two appearances and scoring
eleven goals in his second spell at Turf Moor. He then played for Cardiff City, who he
joined for £15,000 in November 1984, making thirty-two League appearances, before moving to
Doncaster Rovers in November 1985. He played twenty-seven times in the League but he left
for Bury, in July 1986, and made nineteen League appearances. He moved across the Irish Sea
to Limerick where he also coached in January 1987 but returned to Doncaster Rovers as a
non-contract player in August 1987, scoring once in twenty-four League games. He next
joined Wrexham in November 1989 and he continued to play for them until 1993 as
player-manager. He scored five goals in one hundred League appearances as a player. Flynn
had been given the caretaker-managerís job in November 1989 and a month later was given the
job on a permanent basis. After Wrexham finished bottom of the League under his stewardship
in 1990, he rebuilt the side and Wrexham finished runners-up in the new Division Three and
won promotion to Division Two in 1992-93. He was linked with the Welsh Managerís position
but he remained at Wrexham. A run to the FA Cup quarter finals followed in 1996-97, but the
Welsh Dragons never mounted a serious challenge for promotion to Division One and by the
time Flynn's reign ended in October 2000 they were heading for relegation. A year after
leaving Wrexham, Flynn made his comeback to the game by accepting the manager's job at
Swansea City. The Swans were bottom of the league for much of the 2002-03 season and also
on the verge of going out of business completely, just over twenty years after they had
finished sixth in the old First Division. However, Flynn turned the club around and victory
on the final day of the season ensured their safety. Brian Flynn left Swansea City midway
through the 2003-04 season. He became the Welsh Under-Twenty-One and Under-Nineteen coach,
a position he still holds and was Welsh caretaker manager for two games in September 2010.
One of Turf Moor's favourite sons of recent years, Brian Flynn still lives in the Burnley
area and has kept his home there since his playing career at Burnley began.